


Sprinkles

by ThatMerlinFangirl



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Charlie is sad, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Matteusz cheers him up, Missing scene from Episode 1, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 11:34:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11668311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMerlinFangirl/pseuds/ThatMerlinFangirl
Summary: Charlie learns about the healing powers of ice cream from Matteusz.





	Sprinkles

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing for this fandom, so any constructive criticism would be appreciated :)

One of the many horrible things about Earth that Charlie had discovered, was that it was an incredibly noisy place. It was full of chattering voices, pinging phones, traffic beeping, blaring televisions - no matter where you went, there was always noise. 

This meant that it was astonishingly hard to find anywhere quiet to sit and just think. Just to close his eyes and remember. To try and keep the memory of his people alive.

Charlie had taken to sitting on the benches in public parks, which, while not silent, usually went undisturbed for most of the day. Today was one such day, one of those times when he was feeling particularly melancholy and just needed to be still and wallow in the guilt and the sorrow and the homesickness...

"Are you okay?" 

Charlie started and then very nearly went into cardiac arrest when he saw the handsome boy from his physics class stood next to him. "Oh! Err, hello - Matteusz isn't it? From physics?"

He nodded. "And you are Charlie. Cute boy who Miss Quill hates."

"Something like that," Charlie muttered. Then he realised what else Matteusz had said and started stuttering. "I, I mean - not that part - I wasn't trying to sound narcissistic -"

"Is true," Matteusz smiled at him in a dazzling fashion, and then his face grew concerned. "Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Me? Yes. Fine. I'm fine. Just... sitting here. On this bench."

"You look sad."

"But - why would you care?"

Matteusz shrugged. "Is natural human response I suppose. We see person in distress, we feel sorry and want to help them."

Charlie supposed he was right, although he didn't really understand. Human instincts and etiquettes were so complicated. Anyway, he very much doubted that anyone could make him feel better right now.

"Would you like to come get ice cream with me? Is very good for cheering up when you are sad."

"Ice cream?" Charlie frowned.

Matteusz tilted his head to the side. "You have never had ice cream before?"

Charlie shook his head, looking very nervous. "Err - should I have?" Perhaps this was one of those human jab things that they had for diseases - but how could they make you happy? "Sorry, am I being rude?"

"No, no. Is fine. Does not matter," Matteusz laughed. It was not an unkind laugh, like so many of his classmates. "So, cute boy, will you come get ice cream with me?"

Charlie hesitated, figured that it would probably do no harm to at least see what this ice cream stuff was, and smiled at him. "Alright."

\---

Ice cream, it turned out, was a kind of frozen human food sold in vans. Charlie was so amazed by the assortment of vibrant colours that he spent at least five minutes just staring at the display until Matteusz coughed gently and asked him what he wanted.

"Err..." he looked at the labels. They were unfamiliar, intimidating flavours - he especially didn't like the look of 'Mint Choc Chip', which was a nasty shade of green. "I'm not sure."

Matteusz pointed at one. "What about chocolate? Most people seem to like it."

Charlie wrinkled his nose and shook his head. He had seen enough of the awful stuff to last him a lifetime - Quill seemed to worship it.

Then he spotted a nice, safe-looking strawberry flavour, which he remembered April having in her packed lunch. "I would like a strawberry ice cream please." It felt very weird and very human, to say that.

"And I will have the chocolate please," Matteusz told the woman serving in the van before turning back to Charlie. "Would you like sprinkles too?"

Sprinkles? What were they? Having to digest so much human culture at once was overwhelming. "I, umm, I'm not sure - are you having them?"

"Of course," Matteusz grinned at him. "No ice cream is complete without a few sprinkles."

Charlie decided that anything Matteusz liked couldn't be too dangerous. "I think I will have them then."

He had money with him, but Matteusz insisted on paying for both of them. It was so strange, to find someone being nice to him, that Charlie almost forgot to say thank you. He managed to stammer it, embarrassed that he had forgotten such simple human etiquette.

When he was handed his ice cream, Charlie gasped. "It's so pretty!" he exclaimed, turning it around slowly in his hand so that he could examine it from every angle. It was like a fluffy pink cloud coated in tiny stars - those must be the sprinkles. They were every colour of the rainbow and shimmered in the sunlight.

Charlie decided that the very next thing he was going to draw in his sketchbook was an ice cream.

Then he yelped when he saw the sticky pink dribble running down his arm. "Matteusz! Why is my ice cream attacking me?"

Matteusz laughed again, his not-unkind laugh. "Is not attacking you, just melting. You may want to lick it."

Charlie soon got the hang of eating it, and they wandered through the park, making idle conversation as they went. It seemed that Matteusz was right - ice cream, although it couldn't bring his people back from the dead, did make things seem a lot brighter. (Which may or may not also have been due to the Polish boy's presence at his side.) It was also incredibly delicious.

"You like it?" Matteusz asked.

"Definitely." Charlie beamed at him.

"I shall have to buy you more next time I see you then. You have ice cream moustache by the way."

Charlie was incredibly confused. "I thought moustaches were made of hair."

"Oh no, I mean that you have some - here, above your mouth -"

He reached out hesitantly and wiped it away with his thumb.

Charlie's heart was beating incredibly fast. "I... err... don't suppose you could, um... tell me what the purpose of these sprinkles are? I mean, they certainly make the ice cream look aesthetically pleasing but in terms of taste... they, err..."

He trailed off, ducking his head and feeling his cheeks going warm. He was pretty sure that wasn't what he was meant to say.

Then he heard Matteusz laugh again. He really did have a beautiful laugh, like music. "You are a strange person Charlie Smith. But I like you very much for it."

Well, Charlie thought, if Earth had Matteusz and ice cream with sprinkles, it couldn't be all bad could it?


End file.
